Garment hanger



March 2, 1965 E. D. LINDEGREN GARMENT HANGER Filed Feb. 4, 1963 INVENTORERIK D. LINDEGREN ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,171,577 GARMENT HANGERErik B. Lindegren, 303 Dahl St, Rhinelander, Wis. Filed Feb. 4, 1963,Ser. No. 255,748 3 Claims. (Cl. 22395) This invention relates to garmenthangers and resides more particularly in a hanger having a verticalsupporting rod with suspension means at its upper end, a horizontalgarment supporting bar that is laterally spaced from the rod with a welltherebetween to receive, for example, trouser cuifs or the waistband ofa skirt, and garment holding means associated with the bar.

Hangers formed according to this invention are especially suited forhanging trousers or skirts, although they may be useful for many typesof garments, and are particularly suitable for use by commercialcleaners and laundries since they are extremely eifective, inexpensive,and easy to use.

After trousers or skirts have been cleaned, pressed or laundered, theyare usually returned to the customer on conventional bow-type hangers.Trousers are usually laid across the crossbar of the hanger, and thecrossbar is usually provided with a cardboard protector extending alongits full length which serves to prevent the formation of a sharp,unsightly transverse crease at about the knees of the trousers and toprevent the trousers from sliding off the hanger. In the case of skirts,safety pins are often used to attach the waistband of the skirt to thehanger.

These usual hangers and methods of attaching garments are not fullysatisfactory from many standpoints. It is, for example, didicult andtime consuming to place trousers on the usual hanger since it isnecessary first that they be laid carefully across the crossbar at theircenter of gravity to prevent sliding off to one side or the other. Afterthe trousers have been so placed, it is then necessary to arrange thecreases carefully. Even after all of this has been done, the trousersare likely to slide off the hanger or become disarranged by handling.Also, hanging the trousers in this manner does not allow for wrinkles tohang out as satisfactorily as when the entire weight of the trousers ishung from the cuifs. In the case of skirts, the application of safetypins is difficult and tedious.

Aslo, conventional hangers, cardboard protectors and safety pins arerelatively quite expensive and are not fully satisfactory for thisadditional reason. This is especially true in low factory for thisadditional reason. This is especially true in low profit operations suchas clean only" services. Clean only service involves cleaning withoutpressing, and is offered to compete with coinoperated dry cleaningmachines. In order to provide successful competition, clean onlyservices must be offered at a minimum cost and the few extra centsnecessary to provide conventional hangers, protectors and pins may bethe critical factor preventing a profitable operation.

It is the general object of this invention to provide an improved,inexpensive hanger that is effective and easy to use.

It is one of the specific objects of this invention to provide a hangerhaving a well to receive trouser cuffs, skirt Waistbands and the like.

It is another object of this invention to provide a hanger having agarment supporting bar that offers full support for a garment and isprovided with holding means that insure against the garment slipping oifthe hanger.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a hanger which isexterernely simple to use.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a hanger inwhich the vertical supporting rod may have a lateral offset to insurethat the garment is hung directly below a hook or other suspension meansat the upper end of the supporting rod.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a hanger whichmay be formed of conventional wire construction or of molded plasticmaterials and the like at a relatively low cost.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the description to follow.In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawing,forming a part hereof, in which there are shown by way of illustrationand not of limitation four embodiments of the invention.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a preferred embodiment of theinvention with a portion of a pair of trousers shown thereon in brokenlines to illustrate its operation.

PEG. 2 is a side view in elevation of the embodiment of FIG. 1 and aportion of a pair of trousers, with an alternative position of thehanger and trousers shown in broken lines to illustrate the manner inwhich the embodiment of FIG. 1 is used in hanging a pair of trousers,

FIG. 3 is a view in perspective of another embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 4 is a view in perspective showing a third embodiment of theinvention, and

FfG. 5 is a view in perspective with parts broken away and incross-section showing a fourth embodiment of the invention.

Referring again to the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and2, it can be seen that this embodiment is formed of a single piece ofmetal wire of the conventional type used for garment hangers. The hangercomprises a vertical support rod 1 which is bent back at its free upperend to provide a hook 2 which serves as a suspension means forsuspending the hanger on a clothes rack or the like.

Below the hook 2, and intermediate its upper and lower ends, the rod 1is provided with an offset portion 3. Below the offset 3, the lower endof the rod 1 is bent back upon itself to provide a forked, upwardlyextending portion 4, terminating in divergent, upwardly extendingbranches 5, which portion 4 is laterally spaced from the rod 1 toprovide a well therebetween. The upper ends of the branches 5 terminatebelow the oifset 3.

A horizontal garment supporting bar 6 spans the distance between theends of the branches 5, and is laterally spaced from the rod 1 to liedirectly below the hook 2, as can be seen in FIG. 2. A pair of spacedmetal pins 7 extend through the bar 6 with their pointed ends extendingupwardly therefrom, and are securely held to the bar 6 by solder orother suitable means.

The hanger of FIGS. 1 and 2 is formed of a single piece of Wire which,as seen in FIG. 1, extends downwardly from the hook 2 and, at the bottomof the rod 1, is bent upwardly and to the right to form one branch 5 andthence to the left to form the bar 6 and thence downwardly and to theright to form the other branch 5, with the end thereof being joined tothe rod 2 by means of a wrap connection 8. Regardless of this one piececonstruction, the various parts of the hanger are referred to separatelyherein for the sake of clarity and since, as will be discussed morefully below, other constructions not untilizing a single piece of wireare possible within the scope of the invention.

The operation of this embodiment of the invention is illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG. 1, the hanger is shown as it appears with a pairof trousers 9, having cuffs iii, placed thereon. As can be seen in FIG.1, the cutfs 10 are disclosed in the well formed by the lateral spacebetween the branches 5 of the upwardly extending portion 4 and the bar 6and the rod 2. The remaining portion of the trousers 9 hangs across thebar 6 and downwardly therefrom, with the pins 7 piercing therthrough.

The method of using the hanger of FIGS. 1 and 2 is illustrated in FIG.2. From FIG. 2, it can beseen that with the trousers 9 lying on a flatsurface 11, such as a laundry table, the hanger can be used by slidingthe upwardly extending portion 4, with the branches 5, and the bar 6under the trousers 9 with the rod lying above the trousers 9. It is thennecessary only to twist the hanger in a clockwise direction to thebroken line position seen in FIG. 2 whereupon the trousers 9 and hangerwill be as seen in FIG. 1'.

The hanger of FIGS. 1 and 2 has many important advantages overconventional bow type hangers. First, the pins 7 serveas garment holdingmeans which serve to prevent the trousers 9 from shifting or sliding offthe hanger. The pins 7 should, of course, be of sutficiently smalldiameter so that they will not cause damage to the material ofthetrousers 9. The cuffs of the trousers lie in the well between theupwardly extending portion 4 and bar 6 and the rod 2, and by virtue ofthis construction the pins 7 are required to pierce only fourthicknesses of material and thus can be of shorter length. Also, thewell construction allows the hanger to be used in the manner shown inFIG. 2 which allows a considerable saving in time over usual methods ofarranging trousers on a cardboard protected hanger bar. The oifset 3allows for the trousers 9 to hang directly below the hook 2 which helpsin preventing the hanger from twisting or slanting when it is on aclothes rack. Also, the bar 6 supports the full width of the trousers 9.

It should also be apparent that the hanger of FIGS. 1 and 2 isconsiderably less costly than conventional hangers. This embodiment ofthe invention uses, for example, only about 65% as much wire as aconventional bow-type hanger designed for garments of the same size.

The pins 7 make it unnecessary to provide safety pins or cardboardprotectors to prevent a garment from sliding oil of the hanger.Cardboard protectors are also unnecessay because the tousers 9 are hungfrom their cuffs 10 where a transverse crease will not be so readilyapparent. The fact that the trousers 9. are hung from their cuffs 10 isalso helpful in that folds or creases tend to hang out, which isespecially important in connection with a clean only operation wheregarments are not pressed by the cleaner.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FlG. 3 is also constructed of asingle piece of wire. It comprises a vertical support rod 12 having ahook suspension means .13 at its upper end. The lower end of the rod 12is bent back upon itself to provide an angled, upwardly extendingportion 14 which terminates below the hook 13 and is laterally spacedfrom the rod 12 to provide a well therebetween. The wire is then bent tothe left as seen in FIG. 3 to provide a horizontal garment supportingbar 15 which is laterally spacedfrom the rod 12. The far end of the bar15, to the left as seen in FIG. 3, is bent back upon itself and, atapproximately the center of the bar 15, a short, pointed end'16 of thewire is bent upwardly to extend above the bar 15 and serve as a garmentholding means or pin.

It should be readily appreciated that the hanger of FIG. 3 is used insubstantially the same way and offers substantially the same advantagesas the hanger of FIGS. 1 and 2. This embodiment of the invention doesnot have an offset in the rod 12, although one could easily be providedif desired. Also, this embodiment does not have a branched upwardlyextending portion like the portion 4 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2but instead has the single, angled portion 14. This construction issuitable in almost all cases, but where especially heavy garments are tobe hung the fact that the portion 14 otfers somewhat less support maymake it necessary to use a heavier gauge wire in forming this embodimentof the invention. This embodient of theinventionmay be somewhat simplerto form and uses somewhat less wire than the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2and may be advantageous for these reasons.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 4 is formed of two piecesof wire. It comprises a vertical support rod 17 provided at its upperend with a hook suspension means 18. The lower end of the rod 17 is bentback upon itself to lie parallel to but laterally spaced from the rod17, thus forming-an upwardly extending portion 19 that is laterallyspaced from the rod 17 to provide a well therebetween. A garmentsupporting bar 29 is attached to he upper terminus of the portion 19 bymeans of a wrap connection 21 so that the bar 20 lies in a horizontalposition laterally spaced from the rod 17. A pair of pins 22 extendupwardly through the bar 24 at its ends with their pointed endsextending upwardly thereabove. Again, the pins 22 are secured to the bar20 by any suitable means such a soldering.

The embodiment of FIG. 4 may also have somewhat less strength than theembodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 because the upwardly extending portion 19 isnot branched as is the portion 4. It may, therefore, be necessary to useheavier wire for certain applications. Also, this embodiment is notprovided with an oifset, although one could easily be formed in the rod17 is desired.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 5 is formed of a piece ofwire and a wooden dowel. It comprises a vertical support rod 23,provided at its upper end with a hook suspension means 24. An offsetportion 25 is provided in the rod 23 below the hook 24, and the lowerend of the rod 23 is bent back upon itself to lie parallel tothe :rod23, thus providing an upwardly extending portion 26 so that is laterallyspaced from the rod 23 to provide a Well therebetween. The portion 26terminates below the offset 25. The upwardly extending end 27 of theportion 26 is pointed to serve as a pin or garment holding means.

A horizontally disposed wooden dowel 28, which serves as a garmentsupporting bar, is mounted on the portion 26, directly below the hook24, with the pin 26 extending thereabove. A transverse pin 29 extendsthrough the drowel bar 28 and portion 26 to hold the dowel 28 in placeand to prevent it from twisting in use.

The embodiment of FIG. 5 is advantageous in that the relatively largediameter of the dowel 28 helps in eliminating transverse creases introusers or skirts hung therefrom. Also, any possibility of the rustspots which may occur when damp garments are hung on metal hangers iseliminated.

Although the operation of the embodiments of the invention shown hereinhas been described with reference to hanging trousers, it should beapparent that they will function equally well for hanging garments suchas skirts. When skirts are to be hung, the waistband of the skirt isplaced in the well between the upwardly extending portion,

garment bar and support rod of the particular hanger embodiment. Also,it should be apparent that other garments than skirts and trousers maybe hung effectively with the hangers shown herein.

Four particular embodiments formed according to the invention have beenshown and described herein, but other embodiments or variations on theembodiments which have been shown are possible within the scope of theinvention. For example, each of the embodiments shown herein utilizes ahook as its suspension means. It should be apparent, however, that otherconventional suspension means may be used. Also, each of the embodimentsshown herein involves the use'of wire such as that used in conventionalbow-type hangers. It should be apparent that other materials may beused, for example molded plastics.

Also, the number and arrangement of garment holding pins may be changed.For example, the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 could have a single pin atthe center of the bar 6. T embodiment of 5 could have pins at the outerends of the bar 2% and no pin in the center. Similar variations may bemade with all the embodiments.

Also, it is not necessary that upstanding pins be used and, for example,corrugated rubber holders might be substituted and still serveadequately as garment holding means.

Since the foregoing and other variations are possible Within the scopeof the invention, the invention is not intended to be limited exceptinsofar as such limitations appear in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A garment hanger comprising: a generally vertical support memberhaving suspension means at its upper end and a bifurcated portion at itslower end, said bifur cated portion comprising divergent branchesoriginating at the support member and diverging outwardiy towardopposite sides thereof and a garment bar spanning the distance betweenthe ends of the branches, said support member having a first portiondirectly below the suspension means that is in a vertical plane, alateral offset below the first portion and a second portion below theoffset that is laterally spaced from said piane, the second portion ofthe support member being bent back upon itself below the ofiset so thatthe garment bar is horizontally disposed in said plane to be laterallyspaced from said second portion to form a cuff well therebetween, thebar being substantially below the ievel of the ofiset with its midpointsubstantially directly under the suspension means and being supportedfrom below at both ends by the branches.

2. A garment hanger according to claim 1 including garment holding meanson the garment bar.

3. A garment hanger according to claim 1 in which the support member isformed of a single piece of Wire, the wire being bent back upon itselfat the upper end of the support member to provide hook suspension means,and the wire at the lower end of the support member angling away fromthe vertical line of the support member from the point of beginning ofthe bifurcated portion to form one of the branches and thence extendingtoward and across the vertical line of the support member to form thegarment bar and thence angling back to said point of beginning to formthe other branch and terminate at a Wrap connection at said point ofbeginning.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 505,578 9/93Sweeney 223-88 300,250 9/05 Walker 223--92 863,236 8/07 Sundin 223 891,087,067 2/14 Loudenslager 211-117 1,723,980 8/29 Freeman 223-882,023,392 12/ 35 Backer 22388 2,499,188 2/50 Freeman 211113 2,936,0765/60 Harris 211113 FOREIGN PATENTS 29,113 10/31 Australia. 236,307 7/25Great Britain.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

0 DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Examiner.

1. A GARMENT HANGER COMPRISING: A GENERALLY VERTICAL SUPPORT MEMBERHAVING SUSPENSION MEANS AT ITS UPPER END AND A BIFURCATED PORTION AT ITSLOWER END, SAID BIFURCATED PORTION COMPRISING DIVERGENT BRANCHESORIGINATING AT THE SUPPORT MEMBER AND DIVERGING OUTWARDLY TOWARDOPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF AND A GARMENT BAR SPANNING THE DISTANCE BETWEENTHE ENDS OF THE BRANCHES, SAID SUPPORT MEMBER HAVING A FIRST PORTIONDIRECTLY BELOW THE SUSPENSION MEANS THAT IS IN A VERTICAL PLANE, ALATERAL OFFSET BELOW THE FIRST PORTION AND A SECOND PORTION BELOW THEOFFSET THAT IS LATERALLY SPACED FROM SAID PLANE, THE SECOND PORTION OFTHE SUPPORT MEMBER BEING BENT BACK UPON ITSELF BELOW THE OFFSET SO THATTHE GARMENT BAR IS HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED IN SAID PLANE TO BE LATERALLYSPACED FROM SAID SECOND PORTION TO FORM A CUFF WELL THEREBETWEEN, THEBAR BEING SUBSTANTIALLY BELOW THE LEVEL OF THE OFFSET WITH ITS MIDPOINTSUBSTANTIALLY DIRECTLY UNDER THE SUSPENSION MEANS AND BEING SUPPORTEDFROM BELOW AT BOTH ENDS BY THE BRANCHES.